Replies to post #734901 on NorthWest Biotherapeutics Inc (NWBO)

[skitahoe]

I'm no expert, but other here previously posted the FDA guidance on use of off label drugs. Once a drug is approved the regulators are reasonably open to its use. In more than one case patients have taken their insurance companies to court to gain access to drugs off label that have anecdotal evidence that demonstrate their benefits. I believe the insurance companies have lost so frequently that if a Doctor deemed to be a subject matter expert wants to use the drug they practically always grant approval, though they may challenge the Drs. choice and take awhile to approve it.

In my treatment at City of Hope the insurance questioned certain drugs my Dr. wanted, but it never took more than a week to get the drug they wanted me to have. Many of the drugs being used by oncologists, etc. don't have specific approval for the disease they're being used for, yet they've become a part of the SOC for that disease.

Gary

[MasterBlastr]

That is a crock of shit.

[reachjo]

Approximately 30% of prescription drugs written in the USA are for off label use. Further, insurance does cover them with appropriate justification. 

[biosectinvestor]

This is not true. Too many people I know go for experimental treatments overseas including people I know really can't afford it but somehow get the money together and most of those treatments are untried and a waste of money. I have known too many people who, being diagnosed with serious, life threatening cancer, have done this, in actual fact. 

So do I think it's unlikely if you have a validated treatment that will likely also be approved here and that doctors at top research institutions recommend here, that people 1) would not hear if it; and 2) that some number would not seek to get that treatment? Is it the masses that everyone would hope for, no. It's off-label. Yes, it's out of pocket and it's not for everyone to do that, or to find the resources to do it. It would be a limited part of that patient population.  But not everyone is without resources in the families or more broadly including friends and family. 

[biosectinvestor]

Ah; you're just talking off label for an already approved oncology drug.

You seem to forget that the 21st Century Cures Act is all about making those drugs not just broadly available to a broader array of patients and conditions asap, but also getting insurance coverage even if the drug is not officially approved yet. That's a whole other more complicated conversation but basically you're talking like it's the 1970s... and it's not, by th me way.